Thanksgiving Road Trip

We piled in the van on the Tuesday before Thanksgiving at about 11:30 pm. The family picked me up from work, with almost everything loaded and we planned to drive a couple of hours south before finding a friendly parking lot to spend the night in. True to form, we had to stop at home to pick up a few forgotten items before ultimately leaving town. We drove about 2 hours south before we stopped for the night, sleeping between two semis in a Walmart parking lot. (My youngest wants me to note we stopped about 2:30 in the morning). We slept fine. Walmart parking lots are bright and I have a couple more curtians to make to bring the van to appropriate sleeping darkness.

We added a toilet to the van this trip as a convenience item. The base of the toilet is a 5 gallon bucket from Home Depot, with a snap on toilet seat with a sealing lid. I had initially planned to use kitty litter and sifting litter liners in the bucket to manage waste, but the liners did not fit with the lid. We ultimatly put kitty litter directly in the bucket. I don’t know a lot about how kitty litter works, but after using this method I assume that having the litter in open air contributes to the appropriate clumping action. Our human “litter box” turned into one big unscoopable clump due to the sealing seat lid on the bucket trapping all the moisture in the bucket. I plan to purchase Double Doodie bags for our next trip.

Reviews on Amazon report that this bag can be used for a couple of days. The product solidifies liquids and deodorizes waste, making it easier to use and dispose of. The Double Doodie bags can be purchased here.

On Wednesday we finished our drive, arriving in Durham, NC to visit and enjoy Thanksgiving and the weekend with family. Along the way we stopped at Elenor City Park outside of Charleston, WV. The boys stretched their legs playing soccer and I attempted the trail. I’ve been mountain biking a lot this summer, but this trail system was out of my league, particularly covered in leaves. I managed to ride about a half mile before I decided I should turn around to avoid injury. I ended up riding some gravel to stretch the ride to a half hour before we got back in the car to finish up our travel day.

The next post will highlight the trails I was able to successfully ride in the Durham/Chapel Hill area. My family was able to join me for one of the rides and we had a great time.